
Glass. 
Book. 



^U^ 



, -7 






ll 

TO THE ^ 

VOTERS OF CAROLINE COIT^TTY, 



:ti^ — : 

Fellow-Citizens, 

It is doubtless known to all of you, that the great 
question which has agitated our country for twelve months past, was 
settled on the 29th of January ; that Benjamin Watkins Leigh was, 
on that day, chosen by the legislature of Virginia to represent this 
commonwealth in the senate of the United States. 

Justice to myself, as well as a proper respect for your opinions, re- 
quire, that I should freely and candidly lay before your view, the 
course which I pursued in this important matter as your represen- 
tative. 

In doing this, I might, with much propriety, call your attention to 
the delicate, the difficult, and the highly painful situation in which I 
was placed. I might place before your view the angry temperament 
of two political parties, standing, as Scylla and Charybdis, upon my 
right and upon my left, both of which it was impossible to please, and 
each watching, with an eagle's eye, every step of my progress, and pre- 
pared, witli bittcrj deiiunciatioiio, Cui anticlpaieil trespasses upon their 
sacred rights. This 1 say, fellow-citizens, I might with propriety do, 
and I might then appeal with confidence to the tender feelings of your 
hearts, to the noble sympathies which animate your bosoms. But this, 
permit me to say, and I say it with the utmost respect for you, I dis- 
dain to do. I can never invoke your sympathies, whilst I have, as I 
conceive, the strongest claim upon your justice. All that I ask of 
you is, a fair and dispassionate consideration of the facts which I shall 
lay before you. This I have the indubitable right to claim at your 
hands; and if after that you shall condemn me, I trust I shall bow 
with resignation to your decision. 

It is well known to all of you, that previous to the election last 
spring, I openly and freely proclaimed that I had insuperable objec- 
tions to Mr. Rives as our next senator. My decided preference for 
Mr. Leigh was equally notorious. Each voter, when he exercised the 
right of suffrage, was well acquainted with my opinions and my wishes 
upon this subject. I put this question home to the conscience of each 
of you, and ask a candid answer : Suppose that the legislature had 
convened the day after the election in Caroline closed, and had pro- 
ceeded at once to the choice of a senator — Is there a single individual 
in the county who would have expected me to support the pretensions 
of Mr. Rives? Would not every one have said, without hesitation, 
our delegate will vote for Mr. Leigh ? I only ask a candid, a con- 
cientious reply to these questions, and I know it must be an acknow- 



.> 



S^' 



1 he election of senator was made the leading question on which our 
county election turned. The political opinion! and principles of LeLh 
and Rives were brought fully into discussion before the people In 
fact the characters of these men were, as it were, personated by the 
county candidates; and in giving his suffrage for the latter, the Voter 
was only indicating his choice between the former 

How then, I ask you, could I regard my election, under such cir- 
cumstances, otherwise than as an indication of the public will given 
m the most solemn manner, and imposing upon me the hiehest obli- 
gation to support Mr. Leigh ? s » 

But this case you will say is entirely hypothetical. It will be said 
that the legislature did not convene till many months after the elec- 
tion, and that the people had the right to give another indication of 
their wishes. With all this I entirely concur. I maintain that the 
people possess the right to change their opinions as often as they please 
and that they have an equal right to control their agent, and to make 
him reflect their will in all the mutations through which they may 

Not long after the spring elections closed, it was proclaimed by the 
subsidized presses of the land, that a reaction had taken place— that 
the people had been deceived at the polls, and that instructions must 
be gotten up to reverse the decisions so recently and solemnly made 
Uur county did not escape the mania— I was called upon to say whe- 
ther 1 would obey instructions. I unhesitatingly admitted the right 
ot the people to instruct, and acknowledged my obligation to conform 

to the will of my COnetUucnto upon all and cvory eubjcot whatever 

I did not, as I have been unjustly charged, pretend to"'dictate to the 
people the manner in which they should proceed to exercise this right. 
I admitted openly the right, as well as the manner of its exercise" to 
reside exclusively in the people, and expressed my determination to 
reflect their fairly ascertained will, no matter in what way obtained. 
It is true, that in my address, published in the Arena in November 
last, I suggested the safest and most satisfactory manner to be, by a 
public meeting ; and I requested the adoption of this mode— but in 
the same address, I disclaimed any intention of dictating a course to 
them. The request, to settle the question by a public meeting, was 
not complied with — a different method was pursued. So sacred'do I 
consider the right of instruction, that I promised to be controlled by 
the public will obtained in this way, provided it was fairly shewn 
thereby that a majority of the lawful voters were opposed to Mr. 
Leigh. 

On the 2Sth November, I left my residence for Richmond, and on 
the 1st of December, took my seat in the legislature. Before I left 
Caroline, I suggested to one of the gentlemen who had taken an ac- 
tive part in the business of instruction, the propriety of furnishing 
me with the instructions before my departure, in order that I might 
examine them. The request was refused, though he had them inliis 
possession, and I was only permitted to look at them for a few minutes. 



A few days after the session commenced, a resolution was offered, 
the object of which was to fix upon the 12th of December for the 
election of senator. My vote stands recorded against that resolution, 
whilst nearly every other member of the party with which I have 
acted, voted for it. I had not at this time received the expected m- 
structions from my constituents— but I had reason to believe they 
would be forwarded to me. I was therefore in favour of postpoinng 
the election, until my constituents had full time to develop their wishes. 
The resolution, however, passed the house, and was sent to the senate : 
the senate amended it, by striking out "the 12th of December," and 
inserting in lieu thereof, " the 12tii of February." Thus amended by 
the senate, it was returned to the house; and on being read, a mo- 
tion was made to amend the amendment, by striking out " the 12th 
of February," and inserting in lieu thereof, "the 12th of January." 
On this motion, I voted again in the negative. The motion, how- 
ever, prevailed, and the resolution was again sent to the senate. The 
senate again amended it, by striking out " the 12th of January," and 
inserting " the 27th of January." For the resolution thus amended, 
I voted, and it was concurred in by the house. 

I have been thus particular, fellow-citizens, in giving you a detailed 
account of this whole proceeding, in order that you may perceive the 
course which I pursued in relation to it. You will observe, that 
throughout the whole of this preliminary step to the election of a 
senator, I was found in the ranks of my political opponents, and op- 
posed to the party which desired the election of Mr. Leigh. I went 
throughout for the remotest day, and my object was to give those of 
my constituents, who wished to instruct me, full time to speak their 
wishes. If I had been regardless of your wishes, I should have voted 
for hurrying into the election before your letter of instructions reached 
me. The letter of instructions, together with a letter from the com- 
mittee acting on behalf of the instructionists, was put in my possession 
on the 12th of December. 

In my reply to the letter of the committee, which bears date the 
13th of December, after acknowledging the receipt of the instructions, 
I say, " maintaining as I ever have, and as I trust I ever shall, that 
the people are the only source of political power, and that they have 
the right to control their agents in the exercise of any part of it which 
they may confer upon them, I receive these papers with a determina- 
tion to give them that respectful consideration to which every commu- 
nication from such a source is entitled. I beg leave to assure those 
of my constituents who have undertaken to instruct me, that if after 
the most impartial investigation of the documents sent me by the com- 
mittee, of which I am capable, I shall be satisfied that they contain 
the will of a majority of the lawful voters of the county, fairly ob- 
tained, I shall either yield obedience to them, or adopt a course equally, 
if not more agreeable to them." 

I shall now proceed, fellow -citizens, to give you the result of the 
investigation, and if that result shall not be so agreeable to many of 
you as you had been led to anticipate, I trust you will not hesitate to 
acknowledge that I have fully redeemed the pledge given in the fore- 
going extract from my letter. 



The letter of instructions was signed by 507 persons, to which two 
may be added, afterwards received by me, making the total number 
of instructionists 509. 

The committee appointed by the instructionists to scrutinize the 
list, and to communicate with me upon the subject, certified to me 
that only 475 of the signers were lawful voters. They also certified 
the whole number of votes polled at the last spring election to be 695, 
which they add is the largest number polled for the last 15 years ; and 
they further say that 475 constitute a large majority of the lawful 
voters of the county. What the intention of the committee was in 
making these statements, I do not know ; the only reasonable infer- 
ence to my mind seems to be this : 1st. That G95 being the largest 
number of votes polled in Caroline for 15 years, it is, therefore, the 
whole vote of the county ; and 475 being a large majority of C95, our 
delegate is therefore validly instructed, by a majority of the lawful 
voters of the county. 

From these facts the mind involuntarily forms a sylogism which is 
perfectly conclusive in favor of the instructionists, and which no so- 
phistry, however refined, can resist, provided the facts which support 
it be founded in truth. But in them the committee was deceived. 
The facts are erroneous, and the conclusions drawn from them conse- 
quently false. It is true that 095 votes were polled at the spring elec- 
tion, but of those voters only about 240 instructed me, some others 
who had signed the letter of instructions having recanted. 240 de- 
ducted from 095, will leave 455, a large and clear majority against 
the instructions, on this view of the subject. 

Again — The Jackson committee state that 095 persons voted last 
spring. They also state that 475 signers lo ihe letter of instructions 
are lawful voters. Only 263 of these signers voted last spring, which 
taken from 475, will leave 212 who did not vote. These added to 
695, will make, according to the committee's shewing, 907 lawful 
voters in Caroline county. The majority of 907 is 454. From 475 
deduct 37 recantations, and there will remain 438, which is 16 less 
than the majority of 907. Under this other view of the subject, it is 
equally manifest that if I had obeyed, I should have represented the 
wishes of a minority in opposition to a majority. 

I beg you, fellow-citizens, to bear in mind that the foregoing views 
are based solely upon the facts and evidences furnished me by the in- 
structionists themselves. Supposing all their statements to be strictly 
true, they prove clearly, and without doubt, that a majority of the law- 
ful voters of Caroline had not united in the effort to instruct me, and 
consequently, that I was left unfettered and free to exercise my own 
discretion in the choice of senator. I appeal to your candour to say, 
is it not so? Would every one of you, as impartial jurors, acting 
upon oath, deliberately consider the facts, I would be content to 
rest the matter upon the foregoing statement. I should not hesi- 
tate to claim a triumphant verdict at your hands. But, fellow- 
citizens, in times of high party excitement like the present, abound- 
ing as they are, with factious demagogues, and self-constituted guar- 
dians of the people's rights, moved alone by the unholy desire of 
self-promotion, and ready, with the weapons of detraction and mis- 



representation, to demolish every object which may stand in the 
way of their own advancement, I am admonisiied by experience 
to omit no view of this subject which is calculated to prevent 
a forfeiture of the confidence with which you have honoured me. I 
shall therefore ask your attention to another view of this subject. I 
have repeatedly acknowledged the right of instruction, and I have 
as often promised to obey the fairly ascertained will of my constituents. 
By my constituents, I mean all the lawful voters of the county. In 
an enquiry, then, into the validity of the instructions sent me, the 
most proper and reasonable course appeared to me to be, to ascertain 
first, the number of lawful voters in the county; and secondly, the 
number of lawful voters on the letter of instructions. It must be evi- 
dent to you, that neither myself, nor any one man in the county, was 
competent to give the desired information. To whom, then, could I 
apply with as much propriety as to the clerk, and sheriffs, and com- 
missioners of the revenue? To them I did apply; and after a dili- 
gent examination of the land and tax books, and the records of the 
clerk's office, they furnished me with a list of 1038 lawful voters of 
our county. They also examined the list of instructionists, and struck 
therefrom the names of 110, who are not entitled to the right of suf- 
frage. These, deducted from 509, the whole number of instruc- 
tionists, will leave 399 lawful voters, 37 of whom have recanted. On 
this view, then, the matter will stand thus : 

Whole number of lawful voters in Caroline, 1,038 

Whole number of lawful instructionists, 399 

Deduct recantations, 37 

362 

676 

I trust that no republican will say, that under this, the only pro- 
per view of the subject, I was instructed. To say I was, would be to 
deny the truth of the great republican principle, that the majority 
must govern. 

It is well known to you all, fellow-citizens, that throughout the 
whole of the last spring canvass, I only sought your support upon 
what little merit I possessed, and upon the orthodoxy of my politcal 
faith. If my adversaries had faults, no one can charge me with 
having exposed them to public view. I hope I shall ever scorn to ob- 
tain political advancement at the expense of the private feelings or re- 
putation of my opponents. I am a public man, and am acting for the 
public good, and if in the defence of my conduct, and the great in- 
terests, entrusted in part to my keeping, I shall be forced to disclose 
facts, which I would gladly have concealed, I hope it will be attributed 
to a proper desire to discharge a public duty, and not to a personal 
disrespect to any man in existence. 

It is known to you all, as before stated, that throughout the whole 
canvass of the last election, I declared my uncompromising political 
hostility to William C. Rives, and my determination to support Ben- 
jamin W. Leigh as our next United States senator. Elected with 
these views, and after these declarations, I hoped that my way was 
clear before me, and little dreamed of the difficulties which have since 



arisen in my path. As a representative, my end was your interest, 
and the guide I determined to seek in your wishes, when clearly indi- 
cated, or in the absence of such indication, in the suggestions of my 
own humble reason. It was here that difficulties awaited me, in pre- 
senting for my investigation, a complicated question of fact, as to 
your wishes, in relation to the senatorial election. Instructions were 
gotten up for the purpose of ascertaining the wishes of the people of 
Caroline in relation to this election. These instructions, with the 
names of many persons signed to them, were forwarded to me some- 
time after I had left the county, by four gentlemen, acting as a com- 
mittee on behalf of the instructionists. Upon examining them, 1 found 
them unaccompanied by any evidence to satisfy me of their genuine- 
ness or authenticity. The committee do not even say, that they be- 
lieve them to be genuine : on the contrary, tney informed me, that 
they made out one consolidated list from many other lists obtained 
from other persons — and they do not inform me who those other per- 
sons were. From which it is to be inferred, that the committee itself 
did not know whether the signatures to the various letters of instruc- 
tion were genuine or not. I have no doubt but the committee thought 
they were genuine ; but they did not think proper to assume the re- 
sponsibility, which the expression of their belief on this subject would 
impose upon them. The undivided responsibility of the whole sub- 
ject was thrown upon me, then engaged in my official duties, and dis- 
tant from the only persons from whom I might obtain satisfactory in- 
formation. A short time after the reception of the instructions, di- 
recting me to vote for Mr. Rives, other letters of instructions began 
to reach me from some of the persons whose names were signed on 
the first, cancelling the instructions to vote for Rives, and directing me 
to vote as I pleased. Some of these writers state, that they were in- 
duced to sign the instructions by improper representations; and others 
say that they never signed them at all, and that they did not authorize 
any person to sign for them. Here, fellow-citizens, arose a fresh and 
perplexing difficulty. The instructionists were attacking the validity 
of their own act and deed, which attack, was no less than a direct im- 
peachment of its correctness, and I was forced to act the part of an 
unwilling umpire in their disputes. Now, fellow-citizens, I beg of 
you to consider this whole subject under this view. 

Bear in mind that the state of parties in our county, as indicated 
by the election, was nearly equal. Recollect that I received nearly 
one-half of the largest number of votes polled for 15 years, against 
two candidates. Remember also, that this vote was given me on my 
express declaration, that I would not vote for Mr. Rives. Think of 
these things I say, and then answer me this question : Was the letter 
of instructions sent to me by the committee, unofficial and unattested 
as it was as to its authenticity, and followed, as was the case, by 
charges of serious import, from some of the very men whose names 
appeared upon it ; was such a document I say, sufficient to justify me 
in going directly counter to the high obligations imposed by the fore- 
going considerations upon me ? From the considerate, the temperate, 
and all such as respect that golden precept, " do as you would be done 
by," I can readily anticipate an answer. From the thoughtless and 



impetuous, I look for no quarter. I never entertained the hope of 
pleasing such by any conceivable vote I could give. 

Before I leave this subject, permit me to remind you that I have 
made no charge against the instructions sent to me, nor against any 
of the persons who had an agency in getting them up. I have only 
informed you, as it was my duty to do, of the charges made by others ; 
and these charges, bear in mind, come not from my political friends, 
but from some of the instructionists themselves. 

I have now, fellow-citizens, done with this subject, I have laid it 
fully before you. It now rests with you to censure or approve, to con- 
demn or to sustain. Be your decision what it may, it can never de- 
prive me of the high satisfaction which I shall derive from the con- 
sideration, that I have done what I believed to be right. The current 
of party spirit is running high, and all of us are, more or less, subjected 
to its potent influence. I cannot expect, under such circumstances, 
that my acts or my motives will be duly appreciated. But this state 
of things cannot last always. The questions which now distract us, 
will soon cease to exist, and our present commotions will ere long be 
supplanted by a state of placid tranquillity. When that happy state 
shall arrive, then will my conduct be viewed through the medium of 
reason and judgment, and then shall I expect to meet in your appro- 
bation, an ample remuneration for all the punishment which passion 
and prejudice can now inflict upon me. 

Before I conclude this address, permit me, fellow-citizens, to ask 
your attention, whilst I endeavour to expose the misrepresentations 
which have been practised upon you concerning the political opinions 
of Benjamin W. Leigh. Every pflTort which ingenuity could devise 
lias been made to excite your prejudices against this worthy son of 
Virginia. Up to the last session of congress, no man, save Washing- 
ton, ever occupied a higher place in the confidence and affections of 
the people of Virginia, than Benjamin Watkins Leigh. As a gentle- 
man, a lawyer, or a statesman of the true republican faith, he stood 
unrivalled. His meritorious and faithful public services in various 
stations, and more particularly in the convention which framed our 
present constitution, had secured to him the gratitude of his country- 
men of every class and condition. In February 1833, the legislature 
was about to go into the election of a senator, to represent this com- 
monwealth in the senate of the United States. Mr. Leigh was re- 
quested to permit himself to be put in nomination. He refused, on the 
ground that his engagements required his whole attention at home, and 
stated that he could not accept the office on any terms. Contrary, 
however, to his wishes, some of his friends determined to put him in 
nomination. Colonel Joseph Watkins, the present leader of the Jack- 
son party in the legislature, brought his name before the house, and 
accompanied the nomination with the following merited eulogy : 

Mr. Watkins of Goochland said, that as he could not vote for Mr. 
Tyler, he rose with the deepest sensibility, to bring forward a master 
spirit of the age, Benjamin Watkins Leigh. He would not insult a 
name with which every attribute of honour and devotion to country 
was associated, by attempting a detail of meritorious services so well 
knowu to every member of the house. He knew that letters would 



8 

be quoted to shew, tliat in case of Mr. Leigh's election, he would not 
consent to serve. Perhaps it would be asking too much, to insist upon 
his serving the full term of six years — but he thought Mr. Leigh would 
not refuse his services in the present emergency, even should he re- 
sign after the next session of congress. He was a true patriot, and 
Mr. Watkins believed would not refuse his exertions at the call of his 
country in times like these — and he trusted, that before that period 
arrived, Mr. Leigh's exertions would have made "glorious summer 
of the winter of our discontent." He should vote for Mr. Leigh, 
whether he was sustained by the house or not. Mr. Watkins was fol- 
lowed by Mr. Jefferson Randolph, another leading Jackson man of 
the present legislature, who supported the claims of Mr. Leigh in a 
strain almost as complimentary as Mr. Watkins. 

You will bear in mind, fellow-citizens, that these two witnesses, 
who testified so highly to the merits of Mr. Leigh, spoke truly the 
universal voice and feelings of Virginia at that time. They claimed 
that themselves, as well as Mr. Leigh, were genuine republicans of 
the old school. I now ask, and I ask it with boldness, what has Mr. 
Leigh since done to forfeit the high claim which he then had to the 
confidence and esteem of his countrymen ? What has he done to 
incur the charge of having deserted the republican ranks 1 His ene- 
mies will answer, that he has opposed the administration of general 
Jackson, He advocates the re-charter of the United States bank. 
Examine with me, for one moment, into the truth of these charges — 
1st. He has opposed the present administration. I have always thought 
that the best evidence of a genuine republican was found in his oppo- 
sition to the growth of federal or executive power. Mr. Jefferson and 
his followers opposed the usurpations of the elder Adams, and ihe_y 
therefore became entitled to the name of republicans. Mr. Leigh, in 
the same manner, has, by his zealous opposition to executive encroach- 
ments, proved himself to be a true disciple of the same school. But 
I do not intend at this time to enter into an examination of the acts* 
of the present administration. For the sake of argument, I will admit 
that Mr. Leigh has been wholly wrong in his opposition to the present 
administration of the federal government ; and I will even then de- 
monstrate to every reasonable man, that he is not accountable for his 
conduct. You will" recollect, that on the opening of the last session 
of congress, a resolution of censure was introduced into the senate, 
upon the course pursued by the president concerning the deposites. 
Mr, Rives, then a senator, opposed the resolution, and advocated the 
conduct of the president. The legislature of Virginia, then in ses- 
sion, took the subject into consideration, and by a majority of more 
than two to one, passed the following resolutions: 

VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS 

On the Deposites and the Bank of the United States, adopted February 8th, 1834. 

" Whereas, the general assembly of Virginia, deem it of the utmost importance, 
that the power to control the public revenue should be made to abide, in practice, 
where it has been invested by the constitution, in the immediate representatives 
of the people, and of the states, in congress assembled ; and all experience of the 
practical operation of governments has proved, that arbitrary assumptions of power 



9 

by them, or any officer of them, if silently acquiesced in, become precedents for 
further and still greater acts of usurpation : therefore, 

" 1. Resolved by the general assembly, That the recent act of the president of 
the United States, exerting a control over the public deposites, by causing them 
to be withheld and withdrawn, on his own responsibility, from the United States 
bank in which they had been ordered to be placed by the act of congress charter- 
inij the said bank, is, in the judgment of the general assembly, a dangerous and 
alarming assumption of power by that officer, which cannot be too strongly con- 
demned. 

" 2. Resolved, That while the general assembly will ever be ready to sustain 
the president in the exercise of all such powers as the constitution has confided 
to him, they, nevertheless, cannot but regard with apprejiension and distrust, the 
disposition to extend his official authority beyond its just and proper limits, which 
he has so clearly manifested in his recent interference with the treasury depart- 
ment of the federal government, in the exercise of a sound discretion which con- 
gress has confided to the head of that department alone. 

" 3. Resolved, That our senators in congress be instructed, and our representa- 
tives requested, to use their best exertions to procure the adoption, by congress, of 
proper measures for restoring the public moneys to the bank of the United States, 
or, at least, for causing them to be deposited therein for the future, according to 
the direction and stipulation of the act of congress chartering the said bank ; if 
at the time of their action on the subject, the said bank be in their opinion, a safe 
depository of the public treasure. 

" 4. Resolved, That the general assembly cannot recognize as constitutional the 
power which has been claimed by congress (o establish a United States bank, be- 
cause, in the opinion of the general assembly, as they have heretofore solemnly 
declared, that power is not given to congress by the constitution of the United 
States. 

" 5. Resolved, That the general assembly do not intend by the declaration of 
their opinion in regard to the unconstitutionality of the bank of the United States, 
to qualify, or in any manner to impair the force of their disapprobation of the 
withholding and withdrawing of the public deposites. 

" 6. Resolved, That the governor of the commonwealth be requested to trans- 
mit a copy of these resolutions to each of our senators and representatives in the 
congress of the United States." 

These resolutions contain the deliberate sense of the legislature. 
They charge the president with unlawful assumptions of power, and 
with a disposition to extend his authority beyond the limits prescribed 
by the constitution — and they were sent on as instructions to control 
the action of our senators. Mr. Rives received them* and rather than 
obey them, he resigned his seat. On the resignation of Mr. Rives, 
Mr. Leigh was appointed to succeed him. He entered the senate 
then, completely fettered by his constituents in relation to the deposite 
question, and all subjects connected therewith. Whatever his private 
opinions might have been, he had no discretion in their exercise. The 
course to be pursued was clearly chalked out by his constituents ; and 
as a good republican, he reflected their will. 

I ask you now, fellow-citizens, even supposing he was in error, is 
he responsible for that error? Those who maintain that he is, must 
cease to profess a regard for the right of instruction. But this is not 
the only subject upon which Mr. Leigh has opposed the present ad- 
ministration. You all know, that when general Jackson was elevated 
to the presidency, the honourable John M'Lean presided over the post- 
oflice department — and you likewise know the flourishing condition 
in which that faithful officer left the financial affairs of that depart- 
ment. What is its condition now? Totally bankrupt. Under the 
administration of William T. Barry, its immense income has been di- 



10 

verted ffom its proper objects, and squandered with a lavish hand upon 
the idolatrous supporters of the powers that be. An institution that 
was intended for the convenience of the people, and to scatter useful 
information throughout the land, has been converted into the most cor- 
rupt political machine that was ever seen in any age or country. Its 
whole resources have been sunk — and by a lawless and unconstitu- 
tional act, the post master general has saddled it with a debt to the 
extent of several hundred thousand dollars beyond its ability to pay. 
I do not blame the president for the appointment of Mr. Barry ; but 
surely there can be 'no excuse offered for his continuing a man in 
office, who has shewn so little capacity for conducting the concerns of 
his department. Twelve months ago, the senate, by a unanimous vote, 
declared that the post master general had violated the laws and con- 
stitution of the land ; and yet, in the face of this unanimous declara- 
tion, the president still continues this unworthy officer in power. 
Which of you, fellow-citizens, can approve such conduct? and who 
can blame Mr. Leigh for disapproving it? 

A few words, now, upon the second charge. You have been 
told that Mr. Leigh is an advocate of a re-charter of the United States 
bank ; and a paragraph of his speech of the 18th March last, has 
been referred to as authority for the charge. Fellow-citizens, have any 
of those who made the charge, ever shown you the speech? No, they 
dare not do it. They know it would convict them of misrepresenta- 
tion. I will now lay that part of it before you, which his enemies 
have perverted to suit their purposes. Bear in mind, that Mr. Web- 
ster had introduced a resolution into the senate to re-charter the bank 
for six years, Upon this resolution, Mr. Leigh rose and said: 

" He hoped the senate would indulge him, if he took this early opportunity to 
indicate, frankly and distinctly, the opinion he entertained on this important sub- 
ject, and the course he should pursue in regard to it. Indeed, some remarks 
which had fallen from the gentleman from Massachusetts, if he rightly under- 
stood the allusions they imported, seemed to render such an explanation from him 
necessary. 

" It is known to the senr.te, said he, that among the resolutions adopted by the 
general assembly of Virginia, during its last session, which have heretofore been 
laid before both houses of congress, there was one declaring the opinion that the 
federal government had no constitutional authority to incorporate a national bank: 
it contains, indeed, no positive instruction to the senators representing the state 
in this house, but it is a deliberate, solemn expression of the sense of the legisla- 
ture, and, I have no doubt, of the general sense of the people of Virginia on the 
subject ; and this with reference to the question of the renewal of the charter of 
the present bank of the United States. It is known to the senate, too, that 1 
must have accepted the trust which a place in this body imposes, with full know- 
ledge of the resolution to which I have adverted. Under these circumstances — 
knowing what was expected of me when I was elected, representing the sove- 
reignty of the state, and informed, as I am, of her opinion and her will, even if I 
entertained a different opinion, 1 slwuld he incapahle of so far misrepresenting her, 
as to vote for a re-charter of the Bank of the United States, for any length of time, 
hoioever short, or with any modificalioiis whatever. But, in truth, 1 concur in the 
opinion oj my constituents on the constitutional question, and that entirely and ex- 
actly. I have examined the arguments for the constitutionality of such a corpo- 
ration, over and over again, deliberately, and, I hope, impartially— ;-I think I un- 
derstand them— and I am quite sure that the opinion 1 have formed is the result of 
my best judgment." 



11 

" But though the people of Virginia do entertain the opinion, and liave uniformly 
maintained it, and I think upon just grounds, that this government has no consti- 
tutional authority to charter a national bank, the deveFopments of the present 
year, now in rapid progress, may serve to convince them, that the renewal of the 
charter of the present bank, with such modifications, and for such a term as ex- 

Eerience has shewn or shall dictate to be proper, may be the only means which 
uman wisdom can devise, to avert or to correct measures far more unconstitu- 
tional, more abhorrent in principle from their opinions, and more dangerous and 
baleful in their consequences. The alternatives but too likely to be presented to 
us, are indeed awful." 

In the foregoing extract, the opposition of Mr. Leigh to a re-charter 
of the bank, under any circumstances whatever, is so clearly set forth, 
that I shall forbear to make a single comment upon it. The man who 
can read it, and then call Mr. Leigh a bank man, either charges him 
with stating a deliberate falsehood, or he must himself be under the 
influence of such a hallucination of intellect as to render him inca- 
pable of understanding his own vernacular tongue. Rather than in- 
cur the imputation of vanity in attempting to convince such an one, I 
will leave him to the enjoyment of all the pleasure he can derive from a 
pertinacious adherence to his pre-conceived opinions. Up to the time 
that Mr. Leigh was first elected to the senate, I have shewn, by the 
evidence of his present enemies, that he possessed the confidence and 
esteem of his countrymen, that he was "a patriot, a master spirit of 
the age." I have shewn that he went into the senate with his hands 
tied by his constituents, as to the course he was to pursue towards the 
present administration. He has faithfully, and with ability, obeyed 
the instructions of his constituents. What man, I again ask, can in 
conscience condemn him? It is a remarkable fact, that some of the 
very men who voted for the resolutions of instruction to Mr. Leigh, 
are now most violent in their denunciations against him. The incon- 
sistency of such can only be accounted for upon the supposition, that 
they claim for the minority the right to control the majority. If this 
supposition be not correct, I am at a loss to determine how it is, that 
the same men can censure Mr. Leigh for obeying, and myself for diso- 
beying instructions. 

Fellow-citizens, I have already swelled this address to a much 
larger size than I intended ; but long as it is, I cannot conclude with- 
out briefly adverting to two subjects upon which I understand attempts 
have been made to injure me. 

The first is the subject of enclosures. On my way to Richmond in 
December, a petition was put into my hands by a citizen of Caroline, 
signed by 112 persons, with directions that I should present it to the 
legislature. I presented it, as it was my duty to do, early in the ses- 
sion, and had it referred to the committee on agriculture. Some time 
since, I was notified that the committee would consider the subject of 
the petition on a certain day, and they wished me to be present. I 
attended, but no member of the committee appeared but the chair- 
man. Another day was appointed, and I again attended, and found 
the chairman only at his post. I then stated to the chairman my 
views upon the subject, as follow, and requested him to make them 
known to the committee when it should meet. I told him that I could 
not advocate the views of the petitioners, if I consulted my own judg- 



12 

ment, and that however much I might respect the opinions of the pe- 
titioners, I did not think the number sufficient to control me; that the 
change desired by the petitioners might be proper at a future day, but 
that I thought it improper at this time, to make a change in the laws 
relating to enclosures, which would suddenly uproot a custom as old 
as the government itself, and which would bear very heavily upon the 
people generally, and particularly the poor. He replied that his views 
accorded precisely with mine, and that he would report accordingly. 
Thus the subject ended. The committee has not yet reported, and 
probably will not at this session. This is all that I have said or done 
upon this subject. You will now see that the charge against me, that 
I was supporting the views of the petitioners, is wholly groundless. 

A few words now upon the other subject. I understand that I am 
charged with telling the people in the canvass of last spring, that the 
measures of the president in relation to the United States bank, if 
persisted in, would ruin the country, destroy the currency, paralyze 
the industry and enterprise of our citizens, and in fact bring about a 
ruinous depreciation of property, and a stagnation of business ; and 
that this prediction was not verified. I at once plead guilty to the 
charge. I acknowledge I told the people all this, and I assure you I 
honestly and conscientiously believed it too; and if there had been no 
good grounds on which to base such unhappy anticipations, with what 
other imputation do I stand chargeable than that of having yielded 
too much to the suggestions of a timid imagination, of having been in 
fact a false prophet ; and if such were the case, I might here adopt 
the system of recrimination pursued by my adversaries, and balance 
the account at once. T might triumphantly ask wliere is the realiza- 
tion of the golden dreams, the metallic visions which rung so sweetly 
in your ears in March last. Where is the Jackson money, the Ben- 
ton yellow jackets, the specie currency, which in eight or nine months 
from that time, were to inundate the land? When was that golden 
age revived, in which, before this time, " every substantial citizen 
will have a long silken purse of fine open net work, through the 
insterstices of which the yellow gold will shine and glitter; every 
substantial man's wife and daughter will travel upon gold." Which 
of you I ask, fellow-citizens, has seen a realization of these golden 
auguries ? In eight or nine months all these beautiful prophecies were 
to be fulfilled, and bank rags were no more to be seen in our land. I 
fear that none of you can say these prophecies have been verified in 
a single instance ; and if so, it will appear there are other false pro- 
phets in the land besides myself But, fellow-citizens, I am not con- 
tent to adopt this improper mode of argument, used so much by my 
adversaries.' I have never relied upon the demerits of my opponents 
to sustain me in any thing I have said. I have told you nothing for 
which I cannot give a good and substantial reason. If I cannot stand 
upon the strength of my own cause let me sink, rather than take ad- 
vantage of the weakness of that of my enemies. I did tell you in the 
canvass, as before stated, that awful and gloomy times were overhang- 
ing our before happy and prosperous countrymen. The same things 
were told to the people every where, to awaken them to a sense of the 



13 

impending ruin, and to these predictions alone, are they indebted for 
their escape. 

Let us now take a short retrospect of our situation at the period a 
little preceding this gloomy era in our history. At no time in our ex- 
istence as a nation, have the enterprise and industry of our country- 
men been so richly rewarded as in the year 1833. Blessed with an 
unusual degree of tranquillity at home, we were at peace with all the 
nations of the earth. Agriculture, the mechanic arts and commerce 
were all flourishing to an extent before unprecedented. With that 
confidence and enterprise which such a state of prosperity never fails 
to excite, every citizen in our country had stretched his credit to its 
fullest extent. To supply the capital necessary to meet the demands 
of such a spirit of enterprise, numberless banking institutions sprung 
into existence, which, in many instances, flooded the country with 
forty times as much of their paper as they had specie to redeem. Yet 
numberless as they were, and as little specie as they had, their paper 
was unusually current. At this time there was comparatively but little 
specie in the United States ; bank paper was almost the only money 
we had. At this critical moment, the president suddenly and unne- 
cessarily, as his best friends have admitted, determined to strike a 
blow at the bank of the United States, to which nearly all the rest 
were largely indebted. With a vindictiveness, never surpassed by the 
most rancorous personal hatred, he swore an exterminating warfare 
against it; he proclaimed to the world, that the institution was rotten 
and insolvent, and an unsafe keeper of the public money; that he had 
his foot upon the neck of the monster, and was determined to crush 
it. Did you believe him my countrymen 1 Yes ; every man in the 
country who held any of its paper believed, that if not already insol- 
vent, the president would soon make it so, and he pressed upon it with 
its paper in order to exchange it for specie. In this way a heavy run 
was made against the bank, without its having received any notice to 
prepare for it. To meet this unexpected demand for specie, the United 
States bank was necessarily compelled to call upon its debtors, amongst 
which the state banks were the largest. The public now became 
alarmed for their safety; the rush was now turned upon them. Every 
man who held much of their paper, hastened with it to the bank, to 
exchange it for specie. Many of them were unable to withstand the 
shock, and exploded — and every man in the nation, of every party, 
expected a universal explosion. There is no trait in the nature of 
man, more strongly characteristic, than to forget dangers and perils, 
through which he has passed unhurt. You, fellow-citizens, are an 
agricultural people. Your property consisted of land and slaves, and, 
therefore, you escaped the ruin which overwhelmed thousands of your 
worthy countrymen of other avocations. Go to your commercial cities, 
and enquire of your merchants, mechanics and manufacturers, and see 
how many useful and enterprising men, with their families, were re- 
duced from a state of prosperity and plenty, to one of indigence. 
And though your pursuits in life, warded off the blow which prostrated 
thousands, were you free from danger? Imagine to yourself the 
state of our finances as before described ; imagine to yourselves, a 
nation of enterprising people carrying on their business, with a cur- 



14 

rency of near 500,000,000 of paper dollars, and but little specie ; imagine 
the whole of this money on the eve of utter annihilation ; and then if 
you admit that money is necessary to carry on the ordinary transac- 
tions between man and man, you cannot fail to be sensible of the dan- 
gers you have escaped. I state it as a fact which is susceptible of 
positive proof, that the United States bank had it in its power, through 
the whole of the last winter and spring, to blow up every bank in Vir- 
ginia at any moment it pleased. Why was this power not exercised ? 
Let me tell you. The people, roused to a sense of their impending 
ruin, went to the polls last spring, and by their votes, rebuked the 
president for his improper interference with the currency of the coun- 
try. Too obstinate to retrace his steps, he yet feared to wage further 
his warfare against the bank. Not long before the elections, he stated, 
that he had the checks of the bank, to the amount of $ 7,000,000, 
for which he meant to demand the specie. If this demand had been 
made, I have no doubt but the prostration of every bank in the Union 
would have ensued. But the threat was not executed — and why 1 Be- 
cause you stopped him at the polls. And now, permit me to ask, if 
the people had not thus interposed, at the elections, and denounced, as 
freemen, this unnatural warfare, is it not reasonable to suppose, that 
my predictions would have been fully realized 1 

I have now, fellow-citizens, answered, I trust satisfactorily, this 
charge. I now call upon my adversaries to explain the prophetic 
golden visions, that were sounded so sweetly in your ears last spring. 
Let them tell you on what ground they then told you that paper money 
was to be banished from the country, and a hard money currency was 
to succeed it. They told you, " elect us, and wp, will give you Jack- 
son money." Have they made an effort to redeem their promise? 
Yes they have. Whilst the Jackson party were preaching up golden 
times in Virginia, the same party was establishing new banks in the 
state of New York and elsewhere. Has any attempt to banish paper 
money been made in Virginia? Oh yes; a bold eifort was made in the 
legislature a few days ago, to banish paper rags, and to introduce the 
long looked for golden age, by establishing a new bank in the county 
of Botetourt. This bank was concocted and introduced into the house, 
and carried through by Jackson men, aided principally by the same 
party. Read the speech of colonel Watkins on the occasion. He 
was the only one of the golden number who raised his voice against 
the infant monster. He boldly charged his party with having elec- 
tioneered with the people upon the hard money currency, and now 
they were the first to violate the promise. His party continued to be- 
lieve, that the best way to rid the country of bank paper, was to es- 
tablish another bank, and therefore passed the bill. Now, this New 
York plan of diminishing paper money by increasing it, may be a good 
one, but I think the advocates of a hard money currency ought to have 
explained it to the people last spring. I could not, however, see into 
it, and therefore voted against it. 

Fellow-citizens, I have now given you a faithful account of my con- 
duct upon such subjects as you have felt much interest in. Such dif- 
ficulties and embarrassments have been thrown in the path of my offi- 
cial duties, as to render it utterly impossible to give satisfaction to all. 



15 

Any conceivable course which I could have pursued, would have of- 
fended many. Under such painful and perplexing circumstances, I 
might in ordinary times expect my conduct to be viewed with feelings 
of moderation and forbearance, if not of approbation. But the events 
of a short time past, have taught me to expect no quarter, to look for 
no forbearance. I already foresee, with much regret, the approach of 
an angry and animated canvass, in which all the combustible elements 
of our nature are to be roused into active operation ; the principles of 
decorum trampled under foot, and the sacred obligations of private 
friendship sacrificed at the shrine of partizan warfare. 

If my political aspirations had their origin in an unworthy feeling 
of ambition — if self advancement was the object of my pursuit, I 
should look with satisfaction at the violent proceedings of my enemies 
against me, and regard them as most efficient auxiliaries in advancing 
such unworthy desires ; for all experience proves, that unmerited and 
violent denunciation has ever benefitted the object against which it 
was hurled. But, fellow-citizens, if I am acquainted with the feel- 
ings of my own heart, I can say with truth, that no such unworthy 
desires have ever had a residence there. My sole object has been, to 
preserve and perpetuate those great principles of constitutional go- 
vernment for which our fathers fought, and on which our liberties, our 
lives, and our happiness as a nation depend. In the part which I may 
be destined to act in the approaching scene, I trust that no act of mine 
will tend to increase the present unhappy excitement. If I shall 
again be selected by my county to represent her in the next legisla- 
ture, I wish that selection to be made by her reason, and not her pas- 
sions. I have therefore no desire to excite the latter. If it be the 
wish of my countymen to renounce the republican doctrines of '98 ; 
to support the federal principles contained in the proclamation of 
1833 ; to hasten on the rapid march of the federal government to con- 
solidation ; to advocate the alarming abases of executive patronage, 
and to hasten the concentration of all power in the hands of a single 
man ; and whether right or wrong, to give a blind support to the acts 
of that man ; then let me tell you, my fellow-citizens, that I am an 
unfit organ through which to make your wishes known. I hope in 
that case your choice may fall upon some other. Constitutional prin- 
ciples no less important than those just stated, are involved in the ap- 
proaching contest, and I hope, fellow-citizens, that, laying aside all 
feeling and passion, you may enter upon their investigation with that 
deliberation and calmness which should ever characterize the acts of 
a people whose government is based upon the great principle, that pru- 
dent and virtuous men can govern themselves. 

I am, respectfully, 

Your faithful, obedient servant, 

ROBERT HORD. 



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